1985 Renault 5 TR 1.2 from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Reliable, even though it made a lot of fuss
Faults:
Clutch cable snapped.
Gear linkage.
Heater matrix.
Starter motor.
Passenger side door lock.
General Comments:
A faded red relic that just kept going. Bought as a stop gap car, and ended up keeping it for years.
Generally it never felt all that strong, although I'm well aware at 190,000 miles it should not even really have still been going. Most of the plastics inside the car were cracked or cracking and broken. The speedo needle bounced up at down in between 30mph and 50mph, and the heater fan had a mind of its own.
Comfort wise it was OK; the seats were pretty tired and ripped. I put seat covers on them so the foam didn't get ripped. You could do a reasonable distance in it without much discomfort as the suspension was very soft. That meant the handling wasn't great so you couldn't hustle the little thing down a B road without thinking you were about to tip over.
The car was shockingly difficult to start cold and frosty, or slightly damp... you'd be there for ages coaxing her into life, coughing and spluttering. I'd have to sit, keeping my foot on the throttle, trying to keep her running enough to warm up, as driving her cold wasn't an option, as you'd just kangaroo up the road at about 10 mph, which was less than great. Probably why the starter failed, as it would get a morning work out. That said, she never actually broke down once going, aside from the odd random stall, and she'd always start again quickly and get me to my destination.
The car went in the end when the heater matrix dumped coolant into the foot well, wrecking my new shoes, and the gear linkage broke on the way to the garage to have the heater looked at.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 26th January, 2016
9th Feb 2016, 22:01
Having read a load of these R5 reviews, I have come to a simple conclusion. The cheap lower powered models offer cheap no frills and no thrills motoring - are damn reliable and go on forever - 260k miles on this one!!!
R5 Turbo - all the reviews reveal one thing - they are all thrashed and are therefore unreliable and expensive to keep going.
My conclusion? Buy yourself a low end model and sit back and enjoy cheap motoring.
10th Feb 2016, 01:02
Reading your review brought a lot of memories back of mine. It was a 1988 F 1.2 TR like yours, but in silver. Mine did the dumping coolant thing at around 100k. Being poverty stricken, I didn't fix it but wore a hat and gloves and fitted a cigarette lighter powered heater, which was next to useless! I remember some mornings the ice was thicker on the inside of the screen than the outside! It was my first car, so I'll always have a soft spot for it. Didn't have it much longer as I got the chance of a newer, lower mileage Fiesta from a family friend, so the 5 was sold very cheaply. However I think it would have carried on for a while had I kept it.
5th Apr 2024, 16:34
Impressive mileage. Family had a couple of these back in the day, rarely made it past 120,000 miles though before they became uneconomical to repair.
1st Feb 2016, 22:34
Well at 260k miles the poor thing had lived a long and effective life.